Lloyd District dealing with handful of business closures in recent months

by Lincoln Graves, KATU News

This Applebee's on the corner of Northeast 15th Avenue and Halsey Street is one of half a dozen business to close in the Lloyd District in the past few months. (KATU Photo)

PORTLAND, Ore. —

Portland's Lloyd District has recently been portrayed as an up-and-coming neighborhood. Multiple developments are planned or are already in the works. Some of those developments include large numbers of new apartment units. But some residents are wondering what's causing a recent burst of business closings.

"We were looking at that Applebee's, and we noticed the last couple days that the lights are off at normal business hours," said Dylan Gansen, who lives nearby.

A KATU News crew broke the news to Dylan that the Applebee's on the corner of Northeast 15th Avenue and Halsey Street was permanently closed. That made his friend Nick Lee remember another closure.

"Like a month ago, the Starbucks down the road closed randomly," said Lee. "I went there recently, and I'm wondering why this place is closed now."

The Starbucks store at Northeast 15th Avenue and Broadway Street closed late last year. Other nearby business to close were Caffe D'arte and Village Inn. The Marshall's store at Lloyd Center is also scheduled to close later this month.

"We're a community in transition," said Jeremy Taylor.

Taylor is lead pastor at the Temple Baptist Church and vice president of the Lloyd Community Association.

"Many of those businesses probably wish that we were five years down the road in this transition," he said.

Taylor doesn't know the specifics of individual business closures, but he has theories. He's well-versed in the area's transformation and believes it will take just a little more time to turn it into a neighborhood rather than a business district.

"What I think we're seeing is just kind of the birthing pains of that transition," he said. "We're moving in that direction. All signs point there. We're seeing things develop and get ready to be there. We're just not there yet."

KATU reached out to corporate representatives for several of the companies to close stores, but none would comment on specific reasons for closure.